we have a strong bench, half of whom is here at your conference, young governors, ryan, we have rubio in congress, a whole slew of gun governors, a generation who is adept, you could say marinated in conservative philosophy. thinking very deeply about a new kind of conservatism but they for their own reasons, some personal, some they were simply too new and young and raw, weren't quite ready to not run. we had a weak field in the primaries, extremely weak, of whom romney was obviously the best and only possible presidential candidate. you he was -- but he was weaker than the ones sitting on the bench and who will be out there in 2016. that is the source of my optimism. but there was a case that could have been made and wasn't. i think that's largely the reason. >> he is a very good man, mitt romney, but you got a sense of him with the groucho marx line. i've got principles and if you don't like them, i've got other principles. it's not just walter mondale that's one of your vulnerabilities, there's also the -- >> thanks for bringing it up again. we're up to three now. >> there was a p